Caspar Mason, creative director, EMEA at INVNT explores why fun is the future of B2B engagement with Little Black Book.
Walk the floor of any major B2B trade show, and you will see an endless sea of sameness. Screens broadcasting undifferentiated specs and features, executives delivering well-rehearsed monologues, and attendees politely nodding (off) as they glaze over.
‘Gamification’ can seem like an easy fix. It’s a shiny carrot, made of badges, points and leaderboards. But it feels that, in our rush to generate engagement, we’ve sucked all the fun out of games, and gamification is what was left over. We replace space for playful curiosity with leaderboards and badges. Which isn’t to say there isn’t value in these things. But if you focus on them, you’re missing the bigger opportunity.
We treat B2B buyers as hyper-rational data processors. But in reality, they…we… are just people with roles and budgets, and our brains still respond to many of the same instincts we did when we were five. And one of the most important? Play.
Not gamification. Play. Gamification is often a wrapper concealing something boring/tedious. Whereas play is about lighting a spark with a fun activity that is its own reward. And it’s also one of the most scientifically-proven ways of getting people to understand and remember complex information.
If you want your work to stand out, keep interest and stick in people’s memories, you need to stop gamifying and start playing.
Serious about play – the science of play-based engagement
Gamification is often a distraction from the storytelling at a live experience. And that’s a waste, because people are exponentially more likely to retain facts and feelings discovered through play and hands-on learning. The data backing this up is undeniable.
Play isn’t just a leisure activity; it is a powerful cognitive enhancer. When we play, the brain releases a potent cocktail of dopamine and noradrenaline that supports cognitive function, memory encoding and reinforces positive behaviours [Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2025]. Dopamine is like a record button for the brain. And because we like it, we seek it out more.
The stakes are high in business. When people’s sense of security is on the line, they tend to clam up and shut down. The ‘Safe Failure’ inherent in play actively regulates stress and builds the sense of safety required to absorb complex ideas and unlock creative possibilities [National Institute for Play, 2025].
When we physically interact with a challenge or concept, our brains shift from shallow recall to deep encoding. Complex information is broken down into simple, manageable moments and memories. Information retention rates skyrocket to between 75% and 90% when learning is applied through hands-on practice, compared to traditional, passive methods [Careertrainer.ai, 2026]. Our ABB Switchbreaker activation, where visitors could test their reaction speed via a Batak game built into a 17:500 model of an ABB circuitbreaker, proved that leader boards and rewards have their place… namely when they’re single-mindedly supporting the story you’re telling.
Fundamentally engaging – Xerocon London
To see how playful fun can transform B2B marketing look no further than Xerocon, the ‘Coachella for Accountants,’ which recently touched down in London at the newly re-opened Olympia.
The expo floor was where this approach truly came to life. A joyous, colourful case study in the power of play for learning and engagement. Proof that accountants, just like the rest of us, just wanna have fun.
Examples included:
The Laundromat User Experience Lab. Disarming and priming people with an unexpected framing for product feedback and co-creation led to more responses and even more creative suggestions.
Air Your Dirty Laundry. A pink phone booth and a chance to anonymously air your AI grievances. We could’ve done it with Slido, or post-it notes. But we wouldn’t have had the same responses, or the same effect.
The Ball-Pit Slide. What’s not to love? An unforgettable, episodic memory laid down for the brand. And no competitive element. Just pure fun, at a 45 degree incline.
Attendees were immersed in a unique world that spoke to their inner five year olds as much as their rational, grown-up side. They played, they laughed, they failed safely, and they walked away with Xero’s product truths and brand permanently encoded in their memory.
The Way Forward
In the (dwindling) attention economy, you have to think very hard about where to invest your precious resources. When you do manage to grab attention, don’t waste it on superficial gamification when you could be combining deep, habit-forming experiential design [Minders, 2026] with something that puts a smile on every face.
Don’t hate the players, hate the game…ification.